Picardy train attack

The Picardy train attack occurred in early 1941 when the French Resistance, on the orders of the SOE, rescued German scientist Klaus Kessler from a well-guarded German train before derailing it to fake Kessler's death.

Dr. Kessler had been forced to work on the Germans' secret atomic weapons program, Walhall, at the Doppelsieg factory in Saarbrucken, Germany, and he sought to defect rather than work on an atomic bomb. He entered into contact with the SOE, which promised to keep him safe in London in exchange for his cooperation in developing an atomic bomb for the Allies. First, however, the SOE would have to fake his death. They contacted Resistance leader Sean Devlin, arranging for this to happen.

Devlin, disguised as a German soldier, drove down to a bridge in Picardy, where he planted bombs on the bridge's struts. He engaged in a shootout with the German soldiers guarding the bridge before planting a final "bridge killer" on the tracks, preparing it for when the train passed over it. He then drove off to the train station with SOE agent Skylar St. Claire, who was to wait until Devlin returned with Kessler, upon which she would drive them away. Devlin climbed aboard the train and fought his way to the front, using a German anti-aircraft gun to shoot at many of his enemies. Devlin was able to kill the conductor and stop the train before entering the car carrying Kessler, where he killed Kessler's captor Roland Kalkbrenner (who was dresesd as Kessler) and freed the real Dr. Kessler. He then ensured that the train was moving once again, and he pushed Kessler off the train first, ensuring that he survived. After seeing the train nearing the bridge, Devlin himself jumped off the train, and the train would hit the "bridge killer" on the tracks, causing the bridge to explode and the train to derail. The destruction was great, and Picardy was liberated from German control as a result of the attack.

Kessler would be driven back to the Resistance's hideout at La Villette, but he refused to work with the Resistance until they freed his daughter, Maria Kessler, from German captivity. Kessler's work with the Allies would result in the German atomic bomb program being destroyed, and the tide of the war being turned.